The effect of choline on phospholipide synthesis in dog liver slices.

Various investigators have demonstrated that choline stimulates the formation of liver phospholipides in intact) choline-deficient rats or dogs (l-3). The in vitro technique provided a critical test of the hypothesis that choline exerts this effect by direct action on the liver cell. With this procedure Artom and Swanson (4) showed that phospholipide synthesis is markedly depressed in liver slices from rats on a low protein diet and is not increased by supplementing this diet with choline. They also demonstrated that the addition of choline to choline-deficient slices in vitro stimulated phospholipide synthesis, though not to normal values. The present study is concerned with the quantitative relations between degrees of choline deficiency and liver phospholipide metabolism in vitro.